University Objectives and Metrics

Objective 1: Attract and retain a diverse community of students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

Metric 18: Grow the diversity of our students, faculty, and staff.

Strategies:

Create a University-wide unified and comprehensive diversity plan.

Expand recruitment and outreach efforts and relationships with teachers, guidance counselors, and community leaders in underserved areas of Ohio and the world to increase the pool of diverse student and staff applicants.

Offer affordable transportation to make job opportunities more attractive and accessible.

Develop new and enhance existing summer recruitment programs to attract high caliber, diverse high school and middle school students.

Leverage websites and social media to feature stories and experiences of diverse students; foreground global, intercultural, and interdisciplinary academic programs; and highlight the MU values statement.

Expand scholarships and support for underrepresented students.

Increase support for Heanon Wilkins-endowed faculty positions.

Infuse diversity and inclusion across the curriculum and co-curriculum.

Consider cluster and cohort hires across departments.

Launch intentional outreach and networking with two-year and four-year institutions and professional organizations with diverse populations.

Create a diversity guide for recruiting and retaining diverse faculty and staff.

Challenges & Opportunities:

Raising funds for diverse faculty and student scholarships while operating within the parameters of higher education law

Diversifying the pool of international student applicants beyond the current dependency on China

Creating a diverse staff with a limited pool of diverse candidates for all positions

Attracting diverse faculty, students, and staff to live, learn, or work in a rural, small town with a relatively homogeneous population

Developing a systematic approach of coordinating faculty and staff hires across the University

Finding resources for hiring faculty to lead and participate in summer programming.

Objective 2: Create an environment where our people live, learn, and work cooperatively with those of widely varied backgrounds, beliefs, abilities, and lifestyles, moving beyond boundaries to welcome, seek, and understand diverse peoples and perspectives.

Metric 19: 75% of Miami students will report that they feel welcome and have had significant and meaningful interactions with diverse groups.

Strategies:

Design and implement staff orientation programs within divisions and departments.

Infuse diversity issues, experiential or service-learning, and inclusive pedagogical approaches across the curriculum and co-curriculum.

Review and revise official communications to promote a sense of belonging and a welcoming climate.

Execute a faculty and staff survey to gauge and improve employee engagement.

Improve dining and living options and library resources to better reflect and meet the needs of a more diverse student community.

Create incentives for staff and faculty to participate in existing and new diversity programs (e.g., Safe Zone training) to raise consciousness about prejudice, micro-aggression, bullying, and other factors that inhibit a transformational work environment and inclusive climate.

Hire additional advisors, and develop training for faculty and professional advisors to promote expertise in advising multicultural and international students.

Expand partnerships with the Miami tribe and other cultural organizations.

Promote dialogues and conversations on diversity issues with invited or resident faculty, student, or professional experts.

Stimulate broad participation in multicultural programs and events.

Challenges & Opportunities:

Finding the resources to hire additional advisors for diverse students

Creating and conducting regular climate and engagement surveys or other appropriate assessment measures

Developing a reward system for faculty and staff who successfully promote inclusion.

Objective 3: Achieve cultural competency among members of the Miami community by immersing them in domestically and globally relevant learning experiences.

Metric 20: By the time of graduation, 60% of Miami students will have studied abroad or studied away.

Strategies:

Develop a comprehensive internationalization effort at Miami through public messages, appropriate staffing, curricular and co-curricular outcomes, support for faculty and student mobility, effective curricular policies and safety measures, and productive partnerships within and outside the University.

Assess the capacity of the current array of study abroad and study away offerings to suit student demand and particular needs, and make improvements such as:

In partnership with Global Initiatives, create or more fully utilize centralized structures within divisions to coordinate international education efforts, ensure an appropriate balance and exciting slate of programs, and implement consistent protocols and best practices.

Institute effective assessment measures for study abroad and away.

Implement a strategic technology plan that ensures reliable and abundant network and computing resources to support globalized online instruction.

Offer more faculty and advisor training on study abroad and study away, and celebrate exemplary practices.

Enhance exchange relationships with international universities (e.g., creating new partnerships, developing dual degree programs with international institutions, and initiating efficient processes for transferring credit from international institutions).

Increase scholarships for study abroad and study away as well as support for faculty to engage in international education through targeted marketing and donor cultivation.

Challenges & Opportunities:

Raising sufficient funding for students with financial need to study abroad or study away

Creating viable study abroad/away opportunities for nontraditional students who may not be able to leave their jobs or families for long periods of time

Meeting this metric while significantly augmenting the number of students completing double-majors and combined bachelor’s-master’s degrees

Compensating faculty for international education efforts during a period of financial constraint.

Metric 21: All Miami students will have a curricular or co-curricular cultural learning experience, (e.g., intensive community engagement, service learning experience, intercultural or global learning requirement) by the time they graduate.

Strategies:

Enhance the marketing and visibility of Miami’s experiential learning opportunities.

Offer credit for experiential learning in the revised Miami Plan.

Offer experiential learning opportunities to targeted populations of students \ to increase retention.

Develop and conduct mechanisms for tracking and assessing experiential learning, and use data for improvement.

Approach international funding agencies to identify possible areas for growth.

Through cross-departmental and cross-divisional partnerships, alumni outreach, and better utilization of relevant University centers and offices, increase the number of courses that advance service-learning, fieldwork, and other forms of experiential learning.

Reward and recognize exemplary experiential learning programs.

Challenges & Opportunities:

Raising the funds needed to support student and faculty involvement in experiential learning opportunities

Promoting greater understanding of the value of co-curricular learning

Ensuring that co-curricular and experiential activities do not increase students’ time to degree.

Metric 22: All faculty and staff will engage in meaningful, globally diverse cultural activities (e.g., volunteer or community engagement, course or workshops on global and intercultural topics, professional training on diversity issues, regular interaction with diverse groups, participation in cultural events) within the past 24 months.